The Genesis of Black Dance Festival DMV
Shawn Short's founding of Black Dance Festival DMV in 2019 was not merely the launch of a performance platform — it was the culmination of over a decade of historical preservation work that began during his MFA research in Dance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"A Change Gon' Come" — Shawn's MFA thesis at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee laid the intellectual and cultural foundation: a typology for Black dance's reconstruction and advancement in the new millennium.
Extensive interviews begin with dance elders — Mike Malone, Bernice Hammond, Tyrone Murray, and other pioneering figures who opened their personal archives and memories.
Shawn founds Black Dance Festival DMV — transforming academic research into activist practice, honoring established choreographers while platforming emerging voices.
DC Black Concert Dance History (1932–2025) — the first comprehensive documentation, published with support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Starting in 2009, Short embarked on an ambitious journey to document DC's nearly century-long Black concert dance legacy. He meticulously collected newspaper clippings from the historic U Street corridor's golden age, examined news video media from DC's local stations, gathered Scurlock Studio photographs from the Smithsonian archives, and documented contemporary artist contributions across multiple generations.
This rigorous scholarly work revealed a painful truth: professional Black dance company activity in Washington, DC had drastically declined since its founding in 1932 — and the stories of these transformative artists were at risk of being lost to time.
The Rich History of Black Dance DC
Hear the principal researcher discuss the lineage, the elders, and the work that built this documentation.
DC Black Concert Dance History 1932–2025
Preserving a legacy. Building a future.
The DC Black Concert Dance History project represents the first comprehensive documentation of over 90 years of Black concert dance excellence in Washington, DC. Written and compiled by Shawn Short, MFA, PGC in Business of Dissonance Dance Theatre, this groundbreaking research brings to light the stories, pioneers, and institutions that have shaped the artistic fabric of our nation's capital.
This project emerged from a critical recognition: the rich history of Black concert dance in Washington, DC existed largely in the memories of its practitioners and scattered community archives. These stories of pioneering artists, groundbreaking companies, and transformative educational institutions deserved more than oral tradition — they demanded scholarly documentation, preservation, and celebration.
- Oral History InterviewsMike Malone · Bernice Hammond · Tyrone Murray · and other dance elders
- U Street Newspaper ClippingsHistoric U Street corridor's golden age
- DC Local News VideoDC's local television stations across decades
- Scurlock Studio PhotographsSmithsonian archives
- Contemporary ContributionsMultiple generations of artist documentation
What You'll Discover
From the early pioneers of the 1930s who established the first studios on U Street to contemporary artists continuing to push boundaries — five domains across nearly a century of artistic excellence.
- Northeast Academy of Dance · Est. 1934
- Jones & Haywood School of Ballet · Est. 1941
- Bernice Hammond's first DC Black dance studio · Est. 1932
- and other foundational organizations
- DC Black Repertory Dance Company
- DC Contemporary Dance Theatre
- KanKouran West African Dance
- Step Afrika
- and dozens more
- Bernice Hammond · DC dance elder, Howard alumna
- Doris Jones
- Mike Malone
- Assane Konte · KanKouran
- and emerging voices of the 21st century
- "Black Broadway" on U Street
- African cultural renaissance
- Contemporary fusion
- Hip-hop innovation
The schools and programs that have trained generations of dancers — from the first studios of the 1930s through Ngoma School's pre-professional tracks today.
Company D · The Film
Ngoma Film Works' award-winning feature documentary on Dissonance Dance Theatre — Black concert dance history in motion. Best Documentary, 2023 DC International Cinema Festival.
Why This Matters
Dance represents the smallest sector receiving public funding in Washington, DC — and professional Black dance company activity has significantly declined since its founding era in 1932.
This documentation is not nostalgia. It is infrastructure. The DC Black Concert Dance History project:
- →Provides essential context for ongoing conversations about equity, representation, and cultural preservation.
- →Serves as an academic resource for scholars and researchers studying Black concert dance, Washington DC cultural history, and American dance pedagogy.
- →Offers a source of pride and connection for community members who have inherited a legacy they were never told about.
- →Creates a roadmap for policymakers and arts leaders seeking to understand cultural equity — and to fund the future that the past makes possible.
The history of Black concert dance in Washington, DC is not simply our past — it is our present, and it will shape our future.
Research Phases
A three-phase research arc — from historical foundation through pedagogical analysis to policy recommendations.
Establishes the historical foundation and documents key figures, institutions, and movements from the 1930s through 2025. This is the work published in the current PDF release.
Expands to include detailed analysis of pedagogical approaches, economic impact studies, and contemporary challenges facing Black dance artists in the DMV region.
Focuses on preservation strategies, community engagement initiatives, and policy recommendations — turning the historical record into actionable institutional change.
Read & Cite
The full Phase One research is available as a free PDF for educational and research use.
The complete Phase One documentation. Save the PDF to your device, print, share, or reference for educational and research purposes.
Download PDF ↓When using this research, please provide proper attribution:
DC Black Concert Dance History 1932–2025.
Ngoma Center for Dance / Dissonance Dance Theatre, 2025.
For permissions beyond standard educational citation, contact info@ngcfddt.org.
This research was made possible through generous support from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Special acknowledgment to the dance faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for research methods education — and to the countless artists, educators, and community members whose contributions made this research possible.
Phase Two begins in 2026.
Phase One — the foundational documentation of 90+ years of DC Black concert dance — was made possible by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Phase Two requires the same investment: pedagogical analysis, economic impact studies, and the contemporary-challenges research that turns history into infrastructure for the future.
Ngoma Center for Dance is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.